Anaerobic Digestion for Mole Valley

As well as belonging to Transition Ashtead I’m also the secretary of Green Mole Forum which aims to encourage and support sustainable development across all of Mole Valley.  Green Mole Forum has decided to form a group to look at the possibilities for installing anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in Mole Valley.  

AD is a well established process for handing sewage, farm wastes, food wastes or combinations of these feedstocks to produce biogas and a solid residue that is a valuable soil fertiliser.  AD keeps organic waste out of landfill, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions.  AD plants vary from the very large (one AD plant handles all Stockholm’s sewage and food wastes for example) to plants the size of a large table.  There are still not many AD plants in the UK, despite government support for them.  The introduction of feed-in tariffs will give a big boost to all renewable energy technologies in the UK including AD.

A small AD plant is already being seriously considered in Headley to run on a mixture of horse manure and sewage.  Local famers recognise the benefits of having an AD plant on farm land.  Our new group intends to build on this existing local support, gather information, seek advice from experts, and come up with the most promising AD projects.  If you would like to be part of this group or find out more, please send us an email via the ‘Contact’ button on the GMF website http://www.greenmoleforum.org/ , or give me a ring on 01372-378914.

Derek Smith